The first ingredient in this food is a named meat source. However, it is chicken inclusive of water content (about 80%) and once that is removed there is probably substantially less “chicken” in the food. The same applies to chicken liver (5th ingredient).

The next ingredient is by-products. Whilst we appreciate that the manufacturer states this comes from organ meat only, it is impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products and these are usually products that are of such low quality as to be rejected for use in the human food chain, or else are those parts that have so little value that they cannot be used elsewhere in either the human or pet food industries. We recommend avoiding any pet food using such ingredients. The AAFCO definition of chicken by-products is “consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.”

Oatmeal is a decent grain, but the next grain is corn. Corn is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems.

Beet pulp is another controversial ingredient – it is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.

Cane molasses adds unnecessary sugar to the food, and is likely to contribute to yeast infections in dogs prone to those. We appreciate the use of eggs in the food.